Japan trade surplus rises for second month

Japan's trade surplus soared for a second straight month as the world's second largest economy limps out of its worst recession in decades, official data showed Wednesday.
Exports exceeded imports for a sixth straight month, aiding a tentative economic recovery from a severe slump triggered by a collapse in overseas demand for Japanese cars, electronics and other goods.
The trade surplus jumped more than four-fold to 380.2 billion yen (4.0 billion dollars) in July, from 81.9 billion yen a year earlier, the finance ministry reported.
The figure was slightly smaller than the 390 billion yen surplus the market had expected.
Hopes are mounting that the global economy is slowly getting back on its feet, helped by massive amounts of government stimulus spending.
Japan's exports fell 36.5 percent year-on-year to 4.84 trillion yen in July while imports sank 40.8 percent to 4.46 trillion yen.